Press Releases Archive

Budget holds no promise of poverty eradication: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today that the Andhra Pradesh budget for 2013-14 makes no attempt at enhancing the incomes of people and helping them come out of poverty. And the so-called agricultural budget similarly fails to ensure remunerative prices to farmers and improving their livelihood.

In a media statement, Dr. JP said the Government has shown no signs of learning lessons from the past and undertaking a course correction. In fact, the budget indicates that Andhra Pradesh is headed for more troubled times going by the debt ballooning from Rs.82000 crore six years ago to Rs.180000 crore now, the interest burden almost doubling to Rs.15000 crore a year, pension liabilities leapfrogging by three times, and revenue surplus declining steeply.

Dr. JP noted that liquor accounted for Rs.20000 crore of the State's Rs.87000 crore tax revenue.

Although the Government's entire focus is on 17 percent of funds earmarked for welfare schemes, it has not shown any imagination in ensuring their proper utilization. For instance, entitlements to welfare schemes could have been linked to beneficiaries sending their children to school. No attempt has been made to improve the appallingly low standards of school education in the State. A per capita grant of Rs.1000 to people in both urban and rural areas which amounts to just five percent of the Rs.160000-crore budget would have helped local governments address immediate and pressing concerns of people.

There is no wonder that the State continues to face perpetual power shortage as the budget allocates a mere Rs.600 crore for capital works since 90 percent of the Rs.8000 crore to the sector goes towards meeting revenue deficit of power utilities.

Dr. JP pointed out that the money allocated to agriculture and allied sectors is Rs.1000 crore less than in the previous year. Yet the Government has the temerity to claim a higher allocation of 24 percent by mischievously taking credit for an increase in bank loans to farmers. The Government has made no effort to remove illegal restrictions on movement of agricultural produce or improve storage, processing and value addition or provide pledge loans. A paltry Rs.100 crore has been allocated towards the market stabilization fund whereas the requirement is 30 to 40 times more.

The Government has squandered the opportunity of ensuring better outcomes in every sector. The budget is totally unimaginative and merely an exercise in presenting more of the same.

Monday, March 18, 2013 - 18:20

Nominations from Mar.18 for Elections in Lok Satta Party

The Independent Election Authority (IEA) of the Lok Satta Party has announced that nominations for all posts in the party from the constituency to the State President level can be filed from March 18 to 20.

For the post of the State party President, nominations can be filed only at the IEA office at the State party headquarters and for all other posts from the constituency to the district level at IEA offices at party offices.

Giving this information here today, Mr. Kaki Madhava Rao, Chairman and Mr. K. Satyanarayana and M. Padmanabha Reddy, members of the Independent Election Authority, said nomination forms, voters' lists etc will be available at party offices and Election Authority offices. They can also be downloaded from loksatta.org/partyelections website.

The Election Authority has posted the names of the district election officers on the website. The IEA has chosen people not belonging to any political party but who have experience in conducting elections as election officers.

Friday, March 15, 2013 - 17:30

Dr.JP wants legislature to focus attention on five issues

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, Lok Satta Party national President and MLA from Kukatpally, today appealed to all parties to focus their attention on some of the vital and urgent issues which are plaguing the State in the legislature's budget session beginning on March 13.

In a media statement, Dr. JP regretted that legislatures in India do not have regular schedules. They meet infrequently for a total of 40 or 50 days in a year and even when they meet 90 percent of their time is lost in adjournments or disruptions. In contrast, in most mature democracies like the U. S. and the U. K. legislatures meet for 150 to 220 days in a year.

Even when the legislature meets, there is an unspoken compact between the ruling party and the Opposition. Both the Opposition and the ruling party seem to believe disruption of the functioning of the legislature is to their advantage. As a result, people have been losing faith in legislatures and politics.

Dr. JP would like political parties to focus on five vital issues in the ensuing session.

They are:

  • Perpetual power shortages and the deepening crisis in the energy sector. The issues call for both short-term and long term solutions.

  • Drinking water crisis caused by the depletion of reservoirs and declining groundwater tables. The crisis calls for concerted efforts including utilization of National Rural Guarantee Scheme funds for conserving every drop of water.

  • Elections to local bodies after enormous delay. Elections will become a farce without empowerment and devolution of funds.

  • Appalling standards of education. Although an annual expenditure of Rs.18000 a year is incurred on every student in Government schools, the standards are abysmal and call for immediate attention.

  • Growing corruption: Corruption can be combated only if there is a strong and independent Lokayukta, an autonomous Anti Corruption Bureau, independent prosecutors, special courts and provisions for confiscation of property. Efforts should be made to ensure that the Service Guarantee Act proposed by the Union Government is applicable to the State. In the alternative, the State should enact a similar law providing for citizen's charters.

Monday, March 11, 2013 - 20:58

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